Happy Birthday Sweetheart
by blackrose538
Summary: A serial killer is chasing young woman. There are only a few evidence that could help the team to catch the killer. Just before they can arrest the guy Stella disappears without a trace. SEQUEL to "Fabulous Wedding" including the team. Mac's POV COMPLETE
1. Good Morning Don

**So here it is. Finally. The long awaited sequel to my story Fabulous Wedding :)**

**I'm sorry that it took so much time to publish it but there were several problems with fanfiction and I couldn't load up my chapters for the story. You see: It's not my fault :)**

**Disclaimer: I only borrowed the characters of the show :) They still belong to CBS and staff.**

**Of course it's a Stella and Mac story again but this time I decided to include the whole team again.**

_**This story is rated T due to the nature of the case but should not exceed the rating.**_

**And now: Enjoy the first chapter! I hope you like it :)**

**I have to add that the whole story is written in Mac's POV. I tried it that way and it's actually the first time that I write a whole story in a man's POV. **

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I was sleeping peacefully with my wife in my arms before I woke up to the cruel sound of my cell phone. I looked at the alarm clock on my nightstand. The red numbers told me that it was 5:45 am. I picked up my cell phone which was next to the alarm clock and looked at the ID. It was Don.

"Good Morning Don." I said as I answered my cell phone. My wife was awake, too. My cell phone had wake up both of us.

"Good Morning, Mac. Sorry for waking you up and destroying your maybe-day off. But we've got a homicide." Don said.

"Tell me where and I'll be there in… less than an hour."

"It's in Central Park, Shakespeare Garden near the Swedish Cottage. I'll send an officer to the Cottage and he'll lead you to our body."

"Okay. I'll be there in about 45 minutes."

"Okay… and Mac?"

"Yep?"

"Be warned, it looks really nasty."

"I'll think about that while I get a cup of coffee and maybe something to eat on my way down there." I said and hung up.

"Work?" Stella asked me.

"Sadly. A dead body in Central Park."

"I wasn't there for a long time."

"You wanna come with me?" I asked her, but actually I didn't mean it.

"Give me 5 minutes and I'm ready. I'd rather come with you than stay at home alone till somebody calls me to work." She said seriously. I couldn't say anything against that. I know how she felt and she liked her work just like I did. She deserved a day off but normally there was always somebody who called her to a crime scene. So I shrugged and got ready to go. While Stella was in the bathroom and got ready for work I made some coffee which I filled in two cups which we could take with us and which were like thermos flasks. One of the cups was red and one of it was dark blue. Stella had brought these cups and decided that she wanted to keep the red one. The blue cup was a Christmas present she gave me last year. Of course I was really proud of it and it was useful and she said that it would be the perfect gift for a detective who has to work day and night and who practically lives of coffee. Her cup was a Christmas present she gave to herself.

"So… you really want to come with me, honey?" I asked her as she entered the hallway and grabbed her things.

"I do, sweetheart. You know… I can't let you all alone…" She said with a sweet smile. I handed her the red coffee cup and kept the blue one and then we left the apartment to go to the crime scene. When we arrived at the Central Park we got out of the car and made our way to the Swedish Cottage. And as Don said at the phone there was an officer waiting for us. He led us to the crime scene. The area was locked by a yellow barrier tape on which was written in black letters: 'Crime Scene. Do not cross.' Right behind this tape Don was waiting for us.


	2. I'm a big girl

**I'm a bit sad about the little number of reviews I got by now... But I changed my mind. I put in some characters because actually I wanted to make it a Mac and Stella story. **

**I still hope you like it :) And this time I'll wait till I get at least more than 5 reviews for this chapter or the whole story. So REVIEW to get an update!**

**I have to add that the whole story is written in Mac's POV. I tried it that way and it's actually the first time that I write a whole story in a man's POV. **

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2. I'm a big girl

"Hey. You should have left Stella at home, Mac. I don't think she wants to see this." Don said.

"Don, I'm a big girl, I think I can handle it. I saw many dead bodies." Stella told him self confident.

"Sure Stella. I saw many dead bodies, too, but this one… it's one of those bodies I even wouldn't wish my greatest enemy to see it in his dreams."

"Come on, Don. Can we go and do our job?" Stella asked impatiently.

"Fine. On your own responsibility. But don't say that I didn't warn you, okay?"

"You did. Can we go now?"

And finally he brought us to our victim. I had something in my mind when Don was arguing with Stella whether she should see the body or not and I knew him quite well so that I could be sure that he meant what he said. I had seen a lot dead bodies during my time at the NYPD but this was different. In front of us was a young woman lying on the ground. Her body was covered with blood and her skirt was pushed up. The shoes lay a few meters away from her. Her eyes stared at me with shock.

I saw several cuts all over her body. I didn't need any kind of examinations to know that she had been raped before she was killed. But you can never be sure. I glanced at Stella who was still staring at the dead body. I know she had seen a lot of dead bodies during her time at the crime lab but I could see from the look in her face that she shocked. Her face was a bit too white compared to its normal color.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Stell?" I asked her. She just looked at me. I could see the shocked look in her eyes. But her eyes also told me that she would definitely do her job.

"It's my job, Mac. And I promise we'll find that guy who did this to her." She said and then she knelt down next to the victim. Then she looked at Don again.

"Who found her?" she asked him.

A young woman who lives near Central Park. She came for a run with her dog when it found a trace and led her to the body. She called 9-1-1. I already questioned her and she couldn't say something about this woman."

Stella nodded and then she got back to her work.

Hawkes was already examining the body.

"What can you tell me, Hawkes?" Stella asked him.

"She was murdered in such a cruel way that even I was shocked when I saw her first. I can't tell you something about COD, yet but she was killed between 11:30 and 12:30 pm. And I think she was raped but I think Sid can tell us more about it when she was autopsied." Hawkes said. Stella examined the body a bit more but she couldn't find anything. So we started to examine the area around our vic. First of all I had asked Don a few questions about the vic. Her name was Jenny Barns and she was only 24 years old.

We found a shoeprint near the body but nothing more than that. Before we got back into the car Stella stopped in front of Don.

"I knew you warned me, Don, but… I still think I'm a big girl. And you know what? We'll find that guy, right?" She said.

"I saw the look in your eyes when you saw the body Stell. I know you'll find that guy." Don said and then we got into the car and made our way to the crime lab to investigate this case.


	3. Disappointed

**So here you are :) Chapter 3.**

**I've changed the rating to T after I changed some parts of the last chapter and I'll keep an eye on the details I'm writing in my story. I want to say special thanks to Andorian Ice Princess for her help with that changing process. :)**

**And now: Enjoy the next chapter! I hope you like it and let me know what you think! **

**I'm still hanging on to the 5 review mark for every new chapter :) Of course I'm glad to read more than 5 :)**

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3 Disappointed

I went to the morgue with Stella to see what Sid could tell us about our vic. He had just autopsied her and had called me to pay him a visit. Now we stood at the silver autopsy table where the victim was laying on. Sid had covered her with a white sheet which he usually did with the bodies. He was standing in front of us on the opposite of the table.

"So… I examined her very closely. Definitely she was raped before she was killed. And that person who did it was not even nice. I found bruises and several scratches at the inside of her thigh and her genitals. And she was stabbed with a knife several times all over her body."

While Sid was talking to us he showed us the parts of Jenny's body he was talking about.

"And what can you tell us about COD?" I asked him patiently.

"It was quite hard to figure it out, because some of the stabs could have been lethal. Also the victim was covered with blood, but I think that she was killed because the killer cut through her throat." Sid told us.

"How about the stab wounds? Can you tell us something about the knife or whatever these stabs were made with?" I asked.

"It was definitely a knife. The wounds were about 4 centimeters deep and were caused by a small blade. The bigger side must have been about three millimeters thick. The blade was about 2 centimeters big. Possibly it was a pocket knife. And it tapers to the one end and of course it's quite sharp. Maybe it was a Swiss army."

"Okay… there are many of those… We'll find that out."

"Did you find something else? Something that leads us to her killer?" Stella asked.

"I found epitheliums under her nails. I sent them to the lab. But there is something else. First she was married, but I guess you know that already. But that's not the point. The point is that Jenny Barns was pregnant." Sid said with a tone in his voice that told me how he felt about that guy. It wasn't good to kill people, of course but I knew that Sid thought it was even worse to kill a pregnant woman and I felt the same about that.

"Do you know which week?" I asked him.

"The size of the embryo tells me that it must have been about 4 month old."

"So maybe the killer didn't know that she was pregnant. Maybe he thought she was just a bit chubby." Stella said thoughtful.

"That might be the case. When she came in I couldn't see that she was pregnant so… but that's no excuse for him. He killed an innocent, young and pregnant woman." Sid said seriously.

"I'm not looking for excuses, Sid. I'm looking for a theory."

"Stell… Sid didn't do anything okay?" I said and tried to calm her down. Sid was just looking at Stella as if he knew more than I did. It was seldom that she was that huffy.

"I'm sorry. It's just… you know this woman was killed in such a cruel way… and she was pregnant… I'm just… upset and disappointed that we have nothing." She said sadly.

"We'll find him, Stell. You know that we'll find him." I said. "Thank you Sid."

With that we left the morgue and went to the Lab to question Adam. He was looking at a screen and analyzing something very closely so that he didn't notice that we had entered the room.

"Hey Adam. Do you have something for us?" I asked him. He jumped up and turned around but he calmed down the minute he saw us.

"Man, you scared me to death." He said.

"You look pretty vital for a dead person." Stella commented.

"Very funny, but I don't have anything, yet. Danny said he wanted to check on the shoeprint you found at the crime scene and I just got the DNA sample from Sid. Sorry."

"So we'll have to wait till we got the results." Stella said obviously disappointed.

"I guess so… I'll call you when I got the results." Adam said and with that promise we left him alone with his work.


	4. More Details Part 1

**So as I received so many nice and lovely reviews I decided to publish a new chapter today. THANKS to my readers and to those who've written such nice reviews! I'm glad that you like this story.**

**This is a three part chapter. So I decided to devide this chapter into three parts because I thought it'll be too long to be one whole chapter. So... I hope you're not mad at me for that :)**

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4 More Details Part 1

It was a few hours after we had left Adam alone in 'his' lab when he called me. I hoped he had something that would help us to find the killer.

"Adam?" I said as I answered my cell phone.

"Hey Mac, I analyzed the epitheliums that Sid found under the vic's nails. It's human DNA and it's male. But the computer didn't find a match yet." Adam said.

"Okay. Thanks Adam and… call me when you find something."

"As I always do."

So there was nothing which brings us further than we were at this point of time. I had called the husband of the vic, a Jason Barns. He said he will be at home at 11 am. This was in about half an hour and he was living not far away from the department. But I grabbed my things and went to search for Stella. She wanted to come with me when I was going to question the husband.

I found her in her office working at her computer. I knocked gently at the glass door, which was open. She looked up from the screen and looked at me.

"Hey Mac, it's time to got isn't it?" she said.

"I was just coming to get you, so that we can go. What're you doing there?" I asked curiously.

"I did some research about the knife. There are many knives which could be our murder weapon and the most disappointing thing is… everybody can buy it and many people have such a knife so… every male owner of such a knife could be our killer."

"Adam found no match to the DNA that Sid found under Jenny's nails."

"We're not a single step further."

"Yes we are, Stell. We have something we can compare. And we haven't talked to the husband of our vic, yet. Maybe he can tell us something. For example what his wife did in Central Park at that late hour." I said.

"I know… I'm just… disappointed." She said with a sad voice.

"Come on, let's go questioning the vic's husband." I said and she got up, took her coat and we made our way to the victim's house.

Jenny and Jason Barns lived in an apartment in Madison Avenue. On our way to the apartment building we passed the Whitney Museum which is in 945 Madison Ave. They lived in an apartment on the third floor. We stood in front of a door on which was the number 15 written in golden letters. I knocked at the door. A few seconds later a young man opened the door. Stella and I hold up our badges.

"NYPD, Mr Barns. I'm Detective Taylor and this is… Detective Bonasera." I introduced us to the vic's husband. It was still hard to introduce her with her 'old' last name since we were married for more than a year now. But she wanted to keep her last name for the job.

"It's easier I think. At least no one else must know that we're married." She had explained her decision. At least I agreed, but it was strange to use that name.

"Hello. Come in. It's not very clean, I hope you don't mind." Mr. Barns said.

"We're used to more dirty apartments than yours Mr. Barns." Stella said with a smile.

"I wanted to clean it up a bit, but… I couldn't."

"I know. You just lost your wife. That's never easy. I know what you're feeling right now." I said consoling.

"Really? I still can't believe what had happened today. I mean… why Jenny? She was young, sweet and she never hurt someone. Why?"

"Mr. Barns, that's why we're here. We want to figure it out and we want to catch this guy who did this to your wife." Stella said.

"What do you need me for?"

"We just want to get to know your wife a bit better and we need you to answer some question so that we can figure out what had happened." Stella said cautious.

"What do you want to know?"

"First of all… Did you know that Jenny was pregnant?"

"Of course I know it. It was the forth months. We went to the routine check yesterday."

"What time was it?" I asked.

"It was about midday. We were home at 12:45 pm."

"You wife died between 11:30 and 12:30 pm. What was she doing in Central Park that late?" Stella wanted to know.

"I-I don't know… she visited her best friend. She lives in the opposite side of Manhattan."

"We need her name and her address. Where have you been at the time of death?" I asked him.

"Am I a suspect or what?"

"This is just routine Mr. Barns. We need to ask you that question." Stella explained calmly. Mr. Barns had got up from his chair in the living room where we were sitting and questioning him. I guessed he was searching for the address of his wife's best friend. He grabbed a small book which was on a table next to the door. It laid next to the phone.

"I was at home. I've been waiting for my wife to come home." He answered the question.

"Why didn't you call the police after your wife wasn't home this morning?" I asked him.

"I thought she would have stayed with her best friend. Sometimes when they meet she stayed at her house over night. I thought this would be the case and so I went to work as I do every day." I thought he sounded a bit desperate. He had taken a piece of paper and written something on it while he answered the question. Now he handed the piece of paper to me.

"This is name and address of Jenny's best friend. She must live near the public school. She works there as a teacher."

"Thank you. Mr. Barns, we need your finger prints and a DNA sample to exclude you as a suspect." I said calmly.

"Do whatever you have to do. Hopefully that guy gets what he deserves." Jason said and we finished our work.

"Thank you for cooperating with us Mr. Barns. I'm really sorry for you. When there is something you want to add just call me or Detective Bonasera." I said before we left his apartment. We handed him our cards and then we left to visit Jenny Barns' best friend.


	5. More Details Part 2

**It will take some time for the next update because school starts again tomorrow and I'll probably haven't that much time then. So, please be patient with me. I'm doing my best with the story :) **

**Thanks again for reviewing and I'm glad to see this story on a favorite list :)**

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5 More Details Part 2

"Where do we go now?" Stella asked me as I made the way through the New York traffic.

"We're going to visit a woman named Sarah Wilson. She's the vic's best friend." I said and handed the piece of paper to her.

"168 West 78 Street? That's really the opposite of Manhattan compared to where Jenny Barns was living. And it's near Public School. Mr. Barns knows this town quite well."

"Just as we do, Stell. But that's nothing special. Sarah was his wife's best friend. I think they visited her together or he picked her up some times. Maybe he just remembered it. And he said 'it must be' so he wasn't absolutely sure."

"What do think, Mac? Does he has anything to do with her death?"

"I don't know. At least he just lost it wife but… I think he didn't tell us everything. But we'll find out. Let's see what Sarah Wilson can tell us."

"Hopefully she can tell us more about that." she said hopefully.

"Honey, we always find the truth. All we need is to be patient. You know that." I said. I knew that this case was bothering her and I know that it made her crazy that we only had a few evidence. But we couldn't do much more than wait and see what the evidence will tell us. And yet we didn't have any results from the victim's clothes and the shoeprint we found at the scene.

"I know…" she said. The rest of the way we drove in silence.

Sarah Wilson lived in a small house near the public school. It was called William Sherman School. We parked our car in front of the house and got out.

"You think she's at home?" Stella asked me in a serious tone. I looked at my watch. It was 11:35 am and actually she must be working. But at least we had to try it.

"We'll see." I said and then rang the doorbell. It took a few minutes before the door was opened. Again a young man was standing in front of us.

"Hello. We're looking for Mrs. Wilson." I asked friendly.

"She's my wife. But she's not at home, but can I help you?" Mr. Wilson asked.

"Maybe you can. I'm Detective Taylor and this is Detective Bonasera. Can we come in for a moment?" I introduced us again. And again it was strange to use her maiden name.

"Of course." Said the man and led us into the living room. He gave a sign that we should sit down on the sofa. "Can I offer you something to drink?"

"No thank you." I said.

"And you Detective?" he asked my wife.

"No thanks."

"Okay. Then what can I do for you?" he asked friendly.

"Mr. Wilson… do you know Jenny Barns?" I asked him.

"Of course. She's the best friend of my wife. And she is a friend of mine, too. Why are you asking?"

"Mrs. Barns was murdered." Stella said carefully.

"W-What? When did this happen?"

"Between 11:30 and 12:30 pm yesterday. Her husband said she wanted to visit your wife." She said.

"Yes, she was here yesterday. Oh my god… How's Jason?"

"He's okay as the case may be. When did Mrs. Barns left yesterday?" I said.

"She left at about 11 pm. She said she needed to get home today because she had to make something up. But I don't know what she meant."

"Mr. Barns told us your wife's working at a public school. Is that correct?" Stella asked him.

"Yes. She's working at the William Sherman School down the street. Shall I call her home?" Mr. Wilson offered.

"No, thank you. We'll go and visit her. Where have you been yesterday between 11 pm and 1 am?" I asked him.

"I was at home with my wife. Am I a suspect?"

"It's routine Mr. Wilson. We need to ask you that question." Stella explained calmly. "And we need your fingerprints and a DNA sample to exclude you as a suspect."

"Well…" he hesitated.

"We can come back with a warrant if we need to." She explained still calmly.

"No, you don't have to. It's a waste of time. Do what you have to do to find that guy who killed Jenny."

And so we finished our work again. We took his fingerprints and a DNA sample and put it all in an evidence bag.

"Thank you Mr. Wilson." I said before we left his home and handed my card to him. "Whenever there is something that comes to your mind, call me. Everything can be helpful in this case."

"I'll do. I hope you get this guy." Mr. Wilson said before he closed the door behind us.


	6. More Details Part 3

**Hello!!! I'm back with chapter 6 and the last Part of More Details. I hope you like this one, too and thanks for reading and reviewing...**

**Since I haven't received that much reviews the last time I decided to go back to my 'at least 5 reviews before I update' pen, again. **

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6 More details Part 3

After we left Mr. Wilson we made our way to the school where Mrs. Wilson was working. We went to the office and asked for Mrs. Wilson. The woman behind the desk said that she was in a room on the second floor. It was the room for music lessons. We made our way up there and waited for the bell to ring. We thought we could wait till the end of the lesson. After the bell rang and all students had left the room we entered it.

"Mrs. Wilson?" I asked the young woman. She was nearly as tall as Stella and had brownish looking curls that reached her shoulders.

"That's me. What can I do for you?" She asked calmly.

"I'm Detective Taylor and this is Detective Bonasera. We want to ask you a few questions." I said the third time this day. At least she couldn't know why we were here, because we hadn't told the press anything about the murder. We wanted to tell them when we had a first trace.

"Okay…" she said hesitantly.

"Mrs. Wilson… we need to ask you a few questions about Jenny Barns." Stella said calmly.

"Jenny? What happened to her?" The young woman seemed to be desperate.

"She was murdered. Yesterday." I explained carefully.

"What?! How could this happen?"

"Mrs. Wilson we're here to find that out. Mr. Barns told us that Jenny wanted to visit you yesterday. Is that correct?" Stella asked her.

"Yes. She was with me and Alexander."

"When did she left yesterday?"

"About 11 pm. She wanted to make things up with her husband."

"What things?"

"Didn't Jason tell you? They had a fight yesterday. Jenny left and visited me because of that." Mrs. Wilson said.

"Did she tell you why they were fighting?" I asked her curiously. I knew that Mr. Barns hadn't told us everything.

"Jenny told him about the Baby yesterday. He was angry that she didn't tell him before. Jenny told me that he said stuff like he didn't want a baby and things like that. He was really angry." She said.

A few students wanted to enter the room.

"Please, wait in front of the room, okay? And close the door. I'll call you, when I finished here, okay?" She told them and they left the room without any protest.

"Nice students." I said.

"Yeah they really are. That's one of the privileges at this school. Our students are very friendly."

"Well, do you have any idea who could've done this?"

"No. She was nice and friendly. She never hurt someone. She hadn't had any enemies if you're thinking of that."

"Where was she working?" I asked her. I noticed that I've forgotten to ask Jenny's husband about her job.

"She was working at Tiffany's in 5th Avenue."

"Thank you Mrs. Wilson. That's all for now, but whenever there is something that comes to your mind, call us." Stella said and we handed her our cards. She looked at it.

"You two are living at the same place?" She asked curiously.

"He's my husband. But nobody must know it." Stella said friendly and smiled.  
"Okay. I'll call you when something comes to my mind. Good luck." She said with a small smile and then we left. Before we finally left the room Stella and I looked back to Mrs. Wilson. She was now sitting at her desk, her had in her hands. She was crying.

"So… Tiffany's, hu? That's your passion, hon." I said when we got back to the car.

"You want to leave me alone there?" she asked sadly.

I smiled at her. "That's not my favorite place to be actually but… this is our job and we're working on this case together so we're going to question those people there together." I said. "And somebody's gotta make sure, that you do your job and not some shopping."

"That's mean, Mac! I'm always doing my job!" she said and I just looked at her in a way that asked her 'really?'

"Okay… I guess you're right… it's very seductive in there." She confessed.

"How about having something nice for lunch before we go questioning the vic's colleagues?"

"Sounds like a plan. Maybe we should call Danny to get some news on the vic's clothes and the shoeprint." Stella reminded me of that.  
"Yep, we should do that."

"And don't forget that we should deal with the vic's husband again."

"I have that in my mind. I never forget those important things."

And with that we got back into the car and I drove us to a nice diner near that Tiffany's to have some lunch while Stella called Danny.

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**You want to know how this story will go on? then... REVIEW, please!!!!! I want to know what you're thinking about this story/chapter :) You even can criticize something, I won't be mad at you :)**

**_blackrose®_**


	7. Suspect: Tiffany's

**Sorry that it took such a long time to update again, but I was quite busy the last weeks and the weekend, but finally here is chapter 7! **

**I hope it worth the long time of waiting and I hope you like it! Please review and let me know what you think! **

7 Suspect: Tiffany's

We had something to eat in a nice diner near Tiffany's at 5th Avenue. On our way there Stella had called Danny to get some news about the shoe print and the victim's clothes. Danny had told her that they found nothing on the victim's clothes than sand and grass from the place where she was found and of course a lot of blood, which belonged to her. The shoe print, Danny told us, had a size of 11 and a half and it was from a boot, probably a Timberland men's boot. But there was nothing else which could lead us to the killer. That was quite disappointing, but it was a good thing, too, because we had another detail which we could use to find our killer.

After we had lunch we walked down the street to the building where we found Tiffany's in.

"You know what's bugging me, Mac?" Stella asked with a sigh. I looked at her with an inquiring look.

"That I'm still on the clock and I can't just go there and have some nice shopping time to look for something I'd like to have someday." She told me with a sad voice.

"See, that's why I'm going with you. I know that there are a lot of nice things there to look at and I know that women like to do so and I know that you like to do it, but we have a job that's needed to be done." I said firmly. She looked at me as if I had told her that she wasn't allowed to look at something she liked.

"But… maybe we can go shopping and looking around later this week or during the next few weeks." I comforted her.

"Sounds nice."

"Then let's get those people questioned."

We went into the shop. It was not a very big one but it also wasn't very small. Of course there were a lot of nice things in glass cabinets to watch at and I had to confess that I lied when I said that I don't like to be here. Sometimes, when Stella had a day off and I was on my way home from work I went here and looked around for something nice to buy. These were only little occasions, mostly before Christmas or her birthday. And of course I don't buy a present for my sweetheart at Tiffany's every year. First we saw nobody in the shop so we went through the shop for a while till a young woman came out of a door in the back of the shop.

"Can I help you?" she asked friendly. She had blond hair falling to her shoulders and a normal figure. And she had in contrast to what most people think about blond women, green eyes. All in all she had a quite beautiful face.

"Um… yes. We're from the NYPD. I'm Detective Bonasera and this is Detective Taylor." Stella said. "We want to ask a few questions."

"Okay – did something happen?"

"Someone killed Mrs. Barns yesterday." I said explained.

"Oh my god… a-and how can I help you?"

"First we need to know… how was your relationship to the victim?" Stella asked.

"Good. I mean… we weren't friends or so, but she was a nice colleague." The woman said.

"Was there any kind of trouble? Maybe with a client?" I asked.

"If you mean that she has had any trouble I think no. She was always friendly and obliging. I don't remember that she had some trouble… But you should ask our boss. She was the one Jenny trusted. They became kind of friends. As we all do."

"And who is your boss?" Stella asked.

"Oh, sorry. Mrs. Fountain. I can go and get her if you want to." The woman said courteous.

"That would be very kind. But we need your name and at least a telephone number so that we could contact you for further questions." Stella said and we both handed her our cards. She wrote down her name and cell phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Stella. We both handed her our cards and told her she could call us whenever there comes something to her mind.

"I'll do. I go and get Mrs. Fountain for you." She said and left through the same door she entered the shop earlier. Stella started looking around again while I stood at the reception desk and waited for Ms. Garred to return with her boss. But I also watched Stella looking at some earrings and a bracelet. When she came back to me she looked at me in an inquiring way.

"What?" I asked her innocent.

"You're looking at me as if you want to arrest Tiffany's for making me look around here." She said with a mocking tone.

"Do I? I think I have no chance against Tiffany's."

"And that's good." She said with a grin. Then Ms Garred and Mrs. Fountain entered the shop.

Ms. Garred introduced us to her boss and then she left to pay attention to two older ladies that had entered the shop.

"We can go to my office. There we'll be not interrupted." Mrs. Fountain said and led us through the mentioned door towards her office. On the way to the office we passed a little break room for the employees. I noticed another woman sitting there and talking to someone on the phone.

Mrs. Fountain was a woman in her 30's, maybe 35. She had a good figure, too, but she had dark curled hair which nearly touched her shoulder. She had dark eyes, too and her face was not that beautiful. As we reached her office she offered us two chairs which stood in front of her glass desk. She seated herself behind it.

After we sat down she looked at us seriously.

"So detectives, how can I help you?" she asked with a deep and calm voice.

"Well, we're investigating the murder of Mrs. Barns." I told her.

"Jenny's dead? When did that happen?"

"Yesterday, between 11:30 and 12:30. Did you know her personally?"

"She was kind of a friend to me as all my employees are. It's really important to have a good relationship to my employees."

"Ms. Garred said that Mrs. Barns trusted you in a way. What does that mean?" Stella wanted to know.

"As I said we were kind of friends. Sometimes when she had a problem she came to me to talk about it. I guess she never talked about those problems to any of her colleagues."

"Was there any problem during the last few weeks?"

"She came to me two days ago and said that there was a man who comes every time she worked here. She said that he always starts flirting with her and talking to her. She felt like he followed her. Last time he was in here and wanted to talk to her I was near and she told him that she was married and that he should leave the shop and that he should leave her in peace and he told her that she would regret that. To me it sounds like a threat. And I told her she should go to the police, but I don't know whether she did it." Mrs. Fountain told us.

"Mrs. Fountain, do you know this man that was stalking her?" I asked seriously.

"I don't know his name, but… we have observation cameras here in the shop and I have the tapes from last week here. I could search for the tape of the last time he was here and give it to you." She offered.

"That would be very nice."

"I'll go and get it for you. It won't take much time to find it. Excuse me." She said and left to get the tape for us.

"You know what, Mac?" Stella asked and looked at me seriously.

"What?"

"I really should change my last name for work, too. It's a strange thing to introduce myself as Detective Bonasera since I'm married to you."

"I won't say anything against that. It was your decision, hon. But it's strange for me, too." I confessed.

"Good. I'll go visit Sinclair then and tell him. After we finished this case." She said and smiled at me. I could help but smile back.

A few minutes later Mrs. Fountain entered the room with a CD case in her hands.

"I found it. You can take it. We always have a copy of our tapes here, so it's yours now."

We stood up and I took the tape.

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Fountain." I said and handed her my card. Stella didn't give her a card this time.

"When something comes to your mind or that person shows up here again just call me." I said.

"I'll do. Wait, you can have my card, too, in case you have further questions." She said and gave me her card, too.

"Um… one last question, who else works here? Just that we have a little overview." Stella asked her.

"Except for Jenny and Mandy there is Fiona McGee and Aaron Smith. Aaron's on vacation right now. He'll return next week."

"Okay. Thank you for your help." I said before we entered the shop again.

"I'll do everything to help you to find this guy. Poor husband. They were about to have a baby… and now she's dead." Mrs. Fountain said.

"You knew about the baby?" Stella asked surprised.

"She told me last month that she was pregnant. Why you're asking?"

"It's nothing wrong with it, sorry. I'm just a bit surprised."

"Well… we were friends." Mrs. Fountain said.

"I know. Thank you."

And then we left the shop and got back to our car so that we could drive back to the lab and let Adam analyze the tape. Maybe we could get something to work with.

**Probably it will take some time before I can update the story again, because school has started last week and it's the final term before I'll do my school leaving examination. So don't be mad at me when you have to wait a bit longer. **

**_blackrose538 ®_**

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	8. A walk in the Park

**Here you go: Chapter 8!!!**

**Finally I got some time to continue my story. I'm really sorry that you all had to wait that long, but as I said at the beginning of the last chapter... school's kept me busy this week. I hope it won't take that long till I'll update the storx the next time.**

**Don't forget: please let me know what you think. At least I like to see 5 reviews again for an update :) **

**I hope you like this chapter :)**

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8 A walk in the Park

After we arrived in the lab we headed to Adam to let him analyze the tape. He said it would take some time to find a guy that could be the perp. So we decided to do the normal works that was left to do and then we went back home when our shift had finished.

It was 10:30 pm now and Stella and I had just had dinner and were now sitting in the living room in front of the TV and watching the latest news. There was only a short report about the murder in Central Park and it was not mentioned that we haven't had a trace yet. Stella and I had decided to go back to Jason Barns the next day and see what he'll tell us about the baby thing Mrs. Wilson talked about.

I had my arm wrapped around my wife's shoulder and she had rested her head on mine. Now she sat up a bit and looked at me.

"What do you think about going outside for a walk?" She asked me.

"Now?" I asked. It was already dark outside, but it wasn't cold.

"Why not? Central Park's just a few minutes from here. I just like to be outside a bit and have a nice time with you."

"Okay. Whatever you want." I said and we got up and took our coats and left the apartment to have a nice walk in Central Park.

We walked down a way which was free of trees with a nice clearing around it. Sometimes Stella looked up to the sky.

"The night's quite clear, today. Look at the many stars." She said happily.

"Yeah I see. You like watching the stars?"

"I love to look up and try to find some zodiac signs or other constellations. You see that over there?" She asked me and pointing to place at the sky.

"That's the Big Dipper." She said and looked around a bit more. "And over there" she said pointing to another place at the sky "that's Pisces."

I recognized it, too, but I just smiled at her. It was fun to see her that way. Looking up to the sky and looking at the stars. She looked just happy and relaxed. It seemed as everything she had seen today was just out of her mind. It was a bit harder for me to do that, too and to stop think about who could have done this to the poor woman. But I knew for sure that behind this happy and relaxed façade of my wife there where still the thoughts about the case and the poor woman.

"You know that you're so adorable when you're happy?" I asked her smiling. She smiled back and put her arm around my waist.

"Thank you, honey, you know sometimes it's best to forget about all the cruel things we see each day." She said and kissed my cheek.

"You've told me many times before and it's still hard to do it."

"You just need to relax. But you're in a much better mood every day since you got me as your girlfriend."

"That's true. But as long as I don't start humming at work everything's okay." I said with a smile.

"I never heard you humming. Not even in your Peyton times. Sorry to mention her again, but she just came to my mind." Stella said now looking at me a bit contritely.

"It's okay. I think I'm out of the woods when it comes to her."

"Did I ever tell you that I thought she never really deserved you? I couldn't see the look on your face but I read a few lines of her letter after it fell to the floor and I could feel how you must have felt that time."

"I'm happy to have you now." I just said to change the subject. I didn't like to talk about Peyton. In a way I had to confess that she broke my heart by breaking up with a letter. But I'll never let it know anybody.

"And I promise that I'll never leave you." She said and then, before I even could say something she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. I didn't need to say anything I just kissed her back and I knew that she would never let me go again. And I would either.

We spent a few more minutes in Central Park looking at the stars and try to find some constellations. It was really fun to do that while we sat on a bench.

As I looked up at the sky I found a few stars that I could see some stars which looked like a heart if you would connect them with a line.

"You have a good imagination, Mac, you know that?" she said.

"I don't know… maybe…" I said a bit shy.

"Trust me, you have."

I just smiled.

After a few more minutes we decided to go home again. As we arrived at our apartment it was already 11:45 pm and so we decided to go to bed and get some sleep.


	9. Next

**So... I decided to update this story today since I got some time to continue it. I know it's quite short, but I hope that's okay with you. **

**So enjoy reading it and PLEASE let me know what you think :) And thanks you to the nice people who added this story to their favorite list and who added me to their favorite author list. I'm honored to see my name on those lists. Thank you very much for that.**

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9 Next

It was about 3 am when my cell phone rang the next morning. First I didn't realize that it was my cell till Stella woke me. Moaning weary she kissed my nose.

"Sweetie, it's cell phone that keeps trying to wake you up." She whispered weary.

"I'm sorry." I said and kissed her forehead before I answered my phone.

"Taylor."

"Hey Mac. Sorry for waking you again, but we have another homicide. Central Park again, East Drive near the Lasker Rink and Pool." Flack told me.

"Okay, Don, we'll be there in a few minutes." I said and hung up.

"We have to get up and leave for work, sweetheart." I told my wife before I got to get ready for work.

As I entered the kitchen a few minutes later Stella was already dressed and was filling some coffee into our thermos cups. She handed me mine and then we left for work after she had gone to the bathroom.

Again it was Central Park but this time we knew what we had to expect. The victim was killed in the same way as Jenny Barns was killed. But this time it was a bit different.

"This is Sarah Wilson." Stella said as she saw the victim.

"You know her?" Flack and Hawkes, who was examining the body, asked at the same time.

"Yes. Mac and I questioned her yesterday. She was the best friend of our first vic."

"Who discovered the body?" I asked Don while Stella went over to Hawkes to take some photos and started collecting evidence.

"That man over there. He said he came for a run before he wanted to go to work. His dog found the victim and he called 9-1-1." Don said pointing to a place behind the barrier tape. I saw a quite young man standing there with his little dog and talking to one of the officers.

"I questioned him already. I told him he has to wait till you arrive before I can tell him whether he can go home or not."

"Send him home. We can go there and question him if we have any questions."

______________

I was just looking around and started to pick up some evidence while Stella made some pictures of the victim. This time we had more luck. I found a trace of a car in the sand near the body.

"Hey, Stell!" I called my wife. She came over to me and I showed her the trace that I found.

"These look like skid marks. Probably from a car. How is that possible? It's only allowed to go here by car from 3 pm to 7 pm. And Hawkes told me that Sarah died about 10 and 11 pm." Stella said.

"Maybe no one found her before or our killer broke the law in two ways."

"These traces say that Sarah was brought here. Maybe this is the secondary crime scene."

"We need to find our where she was before she was brought here and if she was dead before or if she was killed here." I said.

"I don't think she was killed here. Remember the last crime scene? There was blood around the victim. Sarah was killed the same way as Jenny Barn and this time she is covered with blood but there is no blood on the ground around her body." Stella told me.

"So we need to find the original crime scene."

"Maybe this time we'll find something that leads us to our killer." Stella said hopefully and got back to Hawkes and the victims body.

I finished my work at the crime scene, but I couldn't find anything else. This crime scene was nearly as clean as the first one.

After we finished our work they went back to the crime lab while I made my way to the victim's husband. Stella decided to go to the lab and start analyzing the traces we found. I decided to visit Mr. Wilson and tell him about his wife's death and after that I wanted to visit Mr. Barns again.


	10. Questions and Answers

**Hello again! I decided to publish a new chapter for this story today and I'm still trying to work on my story when I have some time... **

**But school's still keeping me busy, so I hope you don't mind when it takes a bit longer to update. So... I hope you like this one :) Have fun and please let me know what you think. **

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10 Questions and Answers

It was about 5:30 am when I rang the door bell of the house where Mr and Mrs Wilson lived. It took only a few minutes that he opened the door. He looked overtired and confused.

"You? What does that mean?" he asked obviously confused and worried.

"Mr. Wilson, may I come in that we can talk?" I asked him formally.

"Sure." He said and let me in. Again he led me to the living room and said that I could sit down if I want to. And again he asked me if I want something to drink.

"A coffee would be nice." I said thankfully. A few minutes later he came back with two cups of coffee and handed me one before he sat down on one of the arm chairs opposite me.

"Where's you partner?" he asked curiously but it sounded petty to me.

"She's at the crime lab analyzing traces of a crime scene."

"Did something happen to Sarah? Is she…?" he asked suddenly worried.

"Mr. Wilson… I'm sorry… We found your wife in Central Park… murdered." I said truly sorry for that man sitting in front of me. He doesn't say anything. He just started to cry and I really felt sorry for him.

"How… how did this happen?" he asked after he calmed down a bit.

"That's what I want to find out and that's why I'm here." I replied calmly. "Where was your wife yesterday?"

"You mean after work? She said that she had an appointment at the gynecologist. She left at 5 pm and she never came back…"

"I need the address of her gynecologist. Did she want to go somewhere else?"

"She wanted to visit Jason and see if he was okay. But I don't know if she was there."

"Okay… do you have any idea who could have done this?"

He thought for a while before he finally shook his head.

"I have no idea. Everybody liked her. She was nice and helpful. I don't know anybody who could have murdered her."

"One last question Mr. Wilson. You said your wife had an appointment at the gynecologist. Was she pregnant?" I asked him carefully.

"4th months. Like Jenny. She and Jenny became pregnant at nearly the same time. They wanted to be pregnant at the same time. I don't know why…" he replied and started to cry again.

"Why haven't you reported your wife missing?" I asked him.

"I did. But they told me that they couldn't do anything since she wasn't missing for 24 hours. And when you stood in front of my door again I guessed what had happened to her."

"I'm truly sorry. Can you write down the address of the gynecologist please?"

"Sure." He said and took a small notepad from the table near the door and wrote something on it. Then he handed it to me.

"Thank you. If anything comes to your mind that could help us to find the killer then call me." I said before I left to visit Jason Barns again.

__________

It was 6:30 am when I arrived at the first victim's apartment and rang the door bell. A weary Mr Barns opened the door.

"I hope you have a good reason to wake me up." He said as he let me into the apartment.

"I have a very good reason Mr Barns. You didn't tell us everything yesterday." I said calmly.

"What do you mean?" He was obviously upset.

"You forget to tell us about the fight you had with your wife."

"It wasn't important."

"It was. It was about the baby. Jenny hadn't told you that she was pregnant before yesterday, had she?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Because I call that a motive to kill her."

"You suspect me? I haven't killed her. I have nothing to do with her death." He hissed.

"So why haven't you told us about the fight? When did your wife really told you that she was pregnant?"

"Yesterday."

"Mrs. Wilson said you were upset about the fact that Jenny was pregnant. Why?" I asked him.

"Because I thought this isn't the right time for having a baby. She just got the new job at Tiffany's and I just got the promotion. And by the way I wasn't ready to have children yet." He said sadly.

"And you told her that you didn't want the baby."

"I told her that I'm not sure about it and she began to ask me if I still love her. The last thing she said was that she thought I would love her. And that was when I saw her the last time. I knew that she would go to Sarah and I thought she would stay that night."

"Do you have any idea who could have done this?"

"I've thought about that very long and the only one who came to my mind was a guy Jenny told me about. She said he showed up at her work, but she didn't tell me what he wanted or who he was. I'm sorry. I wish I could help you more." He said.

"Thank you. When something comes to your mind call me." I said formally before I made my way to the door. I was just about to open it when I turned around to face Mr. Barns again.

"One last question, did Sarah Wilson visit you yesterday?"

"No. I was all alone here yesterday. Why? Did something happen?" Mr. Barns asked me concerned.

"She was murdered last night."

"Sarah's dead?" he asked me obviously shocked. "Why haven't you said anything about that earlier?"

"It wasn't necessary." I told him and left to go back to the lab and see what Stella and Hawkes found out and if Adam had something about the video.

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**So... I hope you like this one. Um... I think I will not have time to publish a new chapter this weekend, because my brother's celebrating his birthday which is today. He's going to celebrate tomorrow and we'll have a lot of things to do for that, so... please be patient :) Have nice weekend everyone!**

_**blackrose538®**_


	11. New Puzzles

**Hey guys! Finally I'm back with a new chapter. I know it's been a quite long time of waiting for this one, but it's still my school which takes a lot of time so I hadn't have a lot of time to spend for writing this story. **

**But I hope this chapter will worth it for you :)**

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11 New puzzles

When I arrived at the lab I found Adam waiting in my office. He looked a bit nervous, like he often did when he had something for us. Adam was a quite strange man. Sometimes he told us things that hadn't to do with the case or he did some things that would make you think 'what's that for a man?' But at least he was one of my best lab techs. And even if it didn't look like that very often I somehow like him.

"Adam? What's up?" I asked him as I entered my office. He jumped up from the sofa where he had sat while he was waiting.

"Mac… I found something on the tape you got from Tiffany's. I wanted to tell you in person." He said fast and nervous like he did very often.

"Good. Then let me see what you found." I said and we went down to the place where he was working. He went over to the computer and typed a few keys and then a cut-out of the tape from the camera at Tiffany's showed up on the screen.

"Here… you see this man entering the shop? I think he's the man you're looking for." Adam explained and he didn't need to tell me why he was of that opinion. On the screen I could see our first victim Jenny Barns and an unknown man who talking to her. A few seconds later this conversation ended in something like a fight and the victim pointed at the door with her hand trying to make that man understand that he had to leave the shop.

"Could you figure out who he is?" I asked Adam.

"I made his face a bit bigger and looked through all the data bases, but I couldn't find him there. Sorry Mac."

"Can you give me a print of his face?"

"Sure. Wait a second." Adam said and again he typed something and made a good imagine of our suspect and then he printed it and handed the photo to me.

"Thank you Adam."

"You know it's my job." Adam said. "And I love it." He added quickly. I just gave him a small smile before I left to look for Stella and Danny.

I found them in one of the other lab rooms analyzing the traces we had.

"Hey. You found something?" I asked them as I entered the room.

"I got some information about the skid mark you found at the second crime scene." Danny said. "It's from a small car. Possibly from a Prius."

"Small car anyways what else do we have?"

"I talked to Sid while you where talking to the two men again. He confirmed that Sarah was killed the same way as Jenny Barns. Same weapon and same stab wounds. But this time Sid found sperms and again epitheliums under the vic's nails. Adam should be analyzing that right now." Stella said.

I was just about to ask another question when Lindsay entered the room.

"Hey guys. I analyzed the vic's clothes. You guys where right. Sarah was definitely killed somewhere else. I found traces of some oil on her clothes. It was oil used for cars so maybe she was killed in a garage or something like that." She said.

"Great. Nearly everybody with a small house has a garage for his car. We can't go searching all of them." Danny commented.

"We could, but this would take a lot of time and maybe another victim. But we can use it to get our man. Thanks Linds." Stella said "What can you tell us Mac?"

"I talked to Sarah's husband. He said she had an appointment at the gynecologist yesterday and that she wanted to visit Jason Barns afterwards. She hasn't returned from her trip so somewhere during that time she was killed. Or at least kidnapped and held captive for a while." I told them.

"And what about Jason Barns? What did he tell you about the fight?" Stella asked again.

"He said he didn't kill her and that they argued about the baby. He said he wasn't ready for children yet. The last thing she said was that she thought he would love her. That's his story. Sadly we can't prove it."

"Do you believe him?" Lindsay asked.

"I don't think he killed his wife. But still this is my feeling. The evidence will prove it for us."

I said and then my cell phone started to ring. I looked at the ID. It was Adam.

"Adam. What do you have for me?" I asked him as I answered my phone.

"I analyzed the DNA and the sperms. Both have the same DNA as you found under the first victim's nails. But still we doesn't have him in the system." He said.

"Thank you." I said and hung up.

"Nothing about the DNA we found this time. The same as we found under the first victim's nails." I informed the others.

"We should go and question that gynecologist Sara Wilson went to yesterday." Stella said.

"You want to come with me?" I ask her.

"I didn't expect you wanting to go there, but yes, I'll go with you." She said and then we left the lab and the building.

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**I just have one chapter left to publish so far, but this story isn't finished yet, don't worry. But I kind of run out of ideas how to continue this one. I'm still writing it, but I think it will take a bit more time to finish it, so I guess you'll have to wait a bit before I publish the next chapter, but I hope you don't mind. **

**Now, have a nice weekend, everybody and thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think!**

_**blackrose538®**_


	12. Missing Pieses

**So... after not such a long time I finally decided to give you a new chapter of this story :) It's a bit longer than it seemed when I wrote it, but anyways... as always I'm hoping that you like it :) **

**I had a creative time on my last weekend, so I finished this story till chapter 16 and I think it won't be that much longer. I guess it will be not longer than 20 chapter. I guess it will be less. I hope you're not too sad about that. I sometimes have the feeling that some of you are a bit disappointed that it takes so long till they finally get that break through and solve the case.... I'm sorry... it's just that I want to make it logical and realistic but also suspenseful. I hope I managed that in a good way ;)**

**sorry for that... Now... Enjoy this chapter :)**

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12 Missing pieces

As we made our way through the traffic I handed Stella the piece of paper with the address of our destination. It was a gynecologist somewhere on the Eastside of Manhattan.

"Eastside Gynecology, huh? That's the same doctors I go to." Stella said surprised.

"Have you ever met her there?" I asked her just to start a conversation. I didn't want to drive in silence.

"Maybe, but if I've met her I can't remember."

"You see, the world is small, but still you can't remember everybody you saw. Let's see what we can find out."

"Hopefully she can help us."

"She?" I asked surprised.

"Dr. Simmons is female. Don't you remember?" She asked me a bit confused.

"Have you ever told me she was female?"

"I think so."

Now I was confused. I was not sure whether she mentioned that before or not and I wasn't sure about what to say now. I decided to say the truth. It wasn't clever to lie to your wife.

"Then I'm sorry. I do not remember that, honey."

"It's okay. You don't need to go there."

"Luckily."

"Hey, maybe one day you come with me and you'll be proud to go there." She said playful.

"Maybe, but that's a different story."

"True. But men have other doctors they should go to every once in a while."

"And I guess this time you're happy you needn't to go there." I commented.

"Yep. And I think I wouldn't be proud to go there if I'll go with you."

"Maybe you won't have a reason for that. But you could be proud of your husband."

"I'm always proud of you, sweetheart." She said and acted a bit hurt.

"I know. I just wanted to hear that." I said and smiled. During that we had reached our destination.

"I think we should change the topic and get inside that building to ask some questions about a dead woman." She said and sighed. I nodded in agreement and we made our way into the building after we got out of the car.

As we walked into the practice I felt kind of uncomfortable since there were only women around this place, but still I was there to do my job.

"Hey Stella. Everything okay?" the nurse behind the reception desk asked Stella.

"Yes. I'm not here because I want an earlier appointment or something like that. It's work related." Stella answered. I was a bit confused about that question, because there was something in the nurses voice that sounded like concern and that worried me.

"Did I miss something?" I asked her a bit concerned.

Stella looked at me in surprise. Something in her expression told me that she was afraid of something.

"No… no I'm okay. You do not miss something, hon." She stated quickly.

I wasn't satisfied with that answer but I did not want to ask her here in 'public'.

"We want to talk to Tracy. Can you arrange that, Lil?" Stella asked the nurse. She smiled and nodded. I guessed she knew that we were cops. A few minutes later the nurse came back with a woman that was at Stella's age maybe a bit older than she was with long blond hair that was pinned up at the back of her head. When she saw Stella and me she smiled.

"Hey Stella. What can I do for you two?" Dr. Simmons asked.

"Tracy… This is my husband… uhm…. actually we're here to ask you some questions that have to do with our case. Can we talk somewhere, please?" Stella said seriously.

She offered me her hand and I shock it.

"I'm Tracy Simmons. Uhm… we could go into one of the smaller offices. Will you follow me, please?"

Tracy Simmons led us into one of the smaller rooms that where in the back of the practice. She offered us the two chairs that stood in front of a white desk and took a seat on the chair behind it so that she was seated opposite us.

"What can I do for you? Did I do something?" Tracy Simmons asked nervously and concerned.

"No, it's not about you. Have you heard of the two women that where murdered in Central Park?" Stella asked and Tracy just nodded.

"I know that the last victim, Sarah Wilson was your patient."

"Sarah? Sarah was murdered? But…"

"Dr. Simmons…" I started my sentence but I was interrupted by her saying "Tracy"

"Tracy, we need to know if Sarah Wilson was here yesterday. Her husband told us that she had an appointment yesterday."

"Yes, she was here. At about… 5:30 pm. What happened to her?"

"I can't tell you Tracy. When did she left? Do you know that?" Stella asked.

"I guess it was about 6 pm. She said she wanted to visit Jason Barns. The husband of her best friend."

"Did Mrs. Wilson have any problems with someone? Did she tell you something?" I asked her.

"She didn't tell me anything like that. Sorry."

"Tracy… you mentioned the best friend of Sarah Wilson. Jenny Barns, was she your patient, too?" Stella asked her.

"Yes she was. The day she was killed, she was here, too. She told me about a fight she had with her husband because of the baby."

"Did she tell you that she had problems with a man that kept showing up at her work?" I asked her.  
"She mentioned that one time. She asked what effect that could have on her pregnancy. You know, she was scared and stressed by that."

"I can imagine. I do not want to live with the fact that someone always shows up at my work and stalking me all the time." Stella said.

"If you know that someone's following you and you're stressed that could have a negative effect on someones pregnancy. I told her that she needs to get that stopped. And I guess she did."

"Do you know that man?" I asked her and handed her the picture Adam printed for me. Tracy Simmons looked down at it for a while and then she returned it to me.

"That is John Milton. He's one of my assistants. Why do you ask me? Has he anything to do with that?" Tracy asked worried.  
"We think that he was the guy who showed up at Jenny Barns work. We saw sequences of a observation camera of the place Mrs. Barns worked at and he obviously threatened her." Stella told her.

"I can't believe that. He's not that kind of guy who would do that to pregnant woman nor to any other woman. He's such a nice and helpful young man."

"Tracy, we need to talk to him. Is he here today?" Stella asked her again.

"No. He has a day off today. But I can give you his address. I hope he has nothing to do with that." Tracy said and writing something down on a piece of paper and then handed it to Stella before she got up.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go back to my patients if you don't have any further questions." She stated.

"You can go back to your patients. That was it for now. See you tomorrow." Stella said and we got up, too. We followed her back to the reception desk where she said goodbye to us and then we left the practice.

"So you have an appointment, tomorrow?" I asked her surprised.

"Didn't I tell you about that?" she asked back, also surprised.

"I don't think so…"

"I'm sorry. Maybe I forgot to mention it. You know sometimes I forget about those things."

"Do you know that John Milton?"

"No. Never heard of him, or met him when I was there. But I'm not there that often."

"So you want to meet him?"

"I'd love to, Mac." Stella said with a smile.

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**Soooo....? What do you think? Please let me know! Did you like it? Tell me, and maybe you'll get the next chapter on Friday :)**

_**blackrose538®**_


	13. Meeting the suspect

**So... here we go :) chapter number 13 :) Since I received so many nice reviews about this story and the last chapter I decided to keep my promise and publish the new chapter today (Friday).**

**Thank you guy for staying tuned and keep reading my story and of course thank you for all the nice reviews! You're making me so happy and a bit proud of myself :) So again I hope you like this one, too :)**

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13. Meet the suspect

John Milton lived in one of those dark and dirty apartment houses in Manhattan. The house was quite big, but the corridors were small and dirty. Everywhere was something that needed to be repaired and it seemed as if this house wasn't cleaned for years.

Milton lived in one of the apartments on the 2nd floor. As we stood in front of it I knocked on the door. A few seconds later I heard foot steps behind the door. A man in his 30ies with brown hair and green eyes opened the door. He was dressed in grey sport pants and a black t-shirt.

"Yes?" He asked after he looked at us for a few seconds.

"John Milton?"

"That's me. What can I do for you?"

Stella and I showed him our badges.

"I'm Detective Taylor, NYPD and this is…"

"Detective Taylor, too." Stella interrupted me "Can we come in and talk to you?"

"Sure." He said to our surprise and led us into his living room. His apartment was in contrast to the building and it's corridors bright and clean. The furniture was bright and modern. He offered us the sofa to sit on and he seated himself in the armchair that stood opposite the sofa. Between those two pieces of furniture there was a small coffee table.

"So, what can I do for you, Detectives?" Milton asked quite friendly. I understood Dr. Simmons' opinion that he wasn't a guy to rape and kill two pregnant women. His expression and the way he talked to us made him quite likeable. But sometimes a killer build a quite authentic façade which was hard to break through and I had a feeling that Milton was a killer like that.

"Mr. Milton, do you know this woman?" Stella asked him and handed him a picture of Jenny Barns. Milton looked at it a few seconds and then gave it back to Stella.

"No, sorry. I don't think so." he said as if he didn't know anything but in his eyes I could see, that he was lying.

"And what about this one? Do you know her?" I asked him handing him a picture of Sarah Wilson. Again Milton shook his head and gave the picture back.

"What happened to these women?" he asked innocently.

"They were brutally raped and murdered." Stella said calmly but I knew that she was angry because Milton was lying to us.

"That's sad but what do I have to do with that?"

"You know this woman on the picture my husband gave you. She was one of the patients of your boss." Stella said.

"Maybe she was, but do you think I can remember all those women that come to Dr. Simmons?"

"Do you want to know what I think?" Stella asked, now getting upset "you're lying."

"Why do think that?"

"Oh – that's simple. We have evidence that proves that you know both women and that you were stalking and threatening Jenny Barns. The first woman we asked you about. We have a video tape that proves that you had a fight with Jenny at Tiffany's where she was working and her boss also proved that you showed up there several times and threatened her. What can you tell us about that?"

"I don't know about that. Maybe I was at Tiffany's and I argued with that woman, but I do not threatened her." He claimed.

"The evidence tells us a different story. And to help your brain a bit, Sarah Wilson had an appointment with Dr. Simmons yesterday and she told us that you were working that day." I said.

"Maybe she was there and maybe I know her, but I do not kill anybody. You have nothing on me."

"Where do you have these scratches on your forearm from?" I asked him.

"I… uh… played with my mothers cat yesterday and it scratched me." He said looking at the scratches. And again this expression told me that he was lying.

"Mr. Milton would you give us a DNA sample and your fingerprints to prove your story?" Stella asked. Milton looked at her a bit shocked but then a triumphantly smile grow on his face.

"Don't you need a warrant for that?" he asked her.

"We can get one. But if you're innocent why would you let us go and get a warrant? It would be much more comfortable for you and much easier for us to get it without a warrant." Stella said.

"I know my rights, lady. No warrant, no DNA. Plain and simple. You got that?" he said and got up to show us that this conversation was finished.

"We'll be back with that warrant. But next time you'll pay us a visit at the precinct." Stella said confidently.

"Until then I have nothing else to say. I guess you'll find the way out, right?" he said and with that we left the apartment.

"What do you think?" Stella asked me as we were sitting in our car again.

"He is a lying so-and-so." I answered.

"Sometimes I had the feeling that he wanted to take me for a fool. He's clever, but he proves that he has something to hide."

"He thinks he's clever but I saw the look in his face when you asked him about the DNA sample. He was shocked before he got that triumphantly smile on his face. And he lied about the scratches. A cat wouldn't leave those scratches."

"Yeah… but we'll get him, right?"

"Yes, but first we have to get that warrant." I said and then looked at my watch. It was almost 7 pm by now.

"But for today, we can call it a day. It's too late to get a warrant, today." Stella said and I noticed a tired tone in her voice.

"Shall we order in or do you want to have dinner at that nice Argentinean restaurant down the block?" I asked her.

"The restaurant sounds nice." She said and so I started the engine and pulled the car through the traffic towards our new destination.

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**Soo... this was chapter number 13. Let me know what you think! I hope I can update this story on sunday. Sorry guys, this time you'll have to wait a bit for an answer to your reviews (for those who'll write one) and for an update, because I'm going to celebrate the birthday of my best friend and I'll be back on sunday. But I wish you guys a wonderful weekend!!! :)**

_**yours blackrose538®**_


	14. Dinner for 2

**So... this is chapter number 14 and I think this might be the last for at least a few days, because school starts again, tomorrow and I know that I have several things to do next week, so please be patient. **

**I know this chapter isn't very long, but still some smacked time between all those case details. I hope you like this one!**

**_Enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think :)_**

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14. Dinner for two

Half an hour late we arrived at the restaurant we wanted to have our dinner. The way to the restaurant we spent in silence. As we arrived at the restaurant I got out of the car, went to the other side and helped my wife out of the car. She smiled as I offered her my hand and held the door for her.

"You're still the gentleman I love that much. Even though we're married." She teased me.

"The fact that we're married, sweetheart, is a reason to be and to stay that gentleman you love. It's my nature to be like that." I replied with a smile.

"So… then let's go inside before I start freezing. It's quite cool here."

We went inside the small building and the waitress, a young woman, led us to a table in the back of the restaurant, where it was a bit more silent and private. She handed us the menu and left us alone for a few minutes before she came back to take our orders.

"You know what, Mac?" Stella started after the waitress had left.

"What?"

"We should go to our favourite bar with Danny, Lindsay, Sheldon, Sid and Don, tomorrow. You know celebrating your birthday a bit." She said.

"Stella, you know what I think about birthday parties…" I started but she interrupted me.

"Mac, I didn't think about a big birthday party, I'm just thinking about having some fun with our friends. There's nothing bad about that." She said. I had to admit that she was right. There was nothing bad about having some fun and a beer with some friends. We did things like that several times before and it always turned out to be fun.

"Did you lost your voice, hon?" she asked teasingly after I kept silence for a few minutes.

"Sorry… was lost in thoughts. I think I run out of arguments against your idea." I said with a small smile.

"I've noticed that. What have you been thinkin' about?"

"I… uhm… just remembered how I'd spent my birthdays with Claire… and how I'd spent them when I was alone." I answered seriously.

"And, what you'd been doing on your birthday with Claire?" she asked softly. She knew I didn't talk about that very often but when I talked about that she was always carefully not to hurt me but she was curious about what I experienced in my past and I couldn't blame her.

"Mostly we had a day off and we spent it at home or we were just having fun in the city, visiting the zoo or a museum and sometimes we went to an opera. But we always went to a nice restaurant for dinner. Sometimes we visited my mother or her parents." I told her.

"Sounds like fun. You know, we should visit Marian some time. She'll be happy to see you."

"I think she'll be happy to see both of us, Stell… she really loves you, honey."

"I know. And I like her, too. Remember she was the one who picked my wedding dress." Stella said with a smile.

"And you really looked like a princess that day. I felt like I was in a fairy-tale." I said truthfully remembering the day of our wedding.

Remembering the scene when Stella walked down the aisle made me smile happily. I still couldn't believe that it was my mother's idea. But I know that all she wanted was seeing me happy again, after so many years of being alone and depressed.

The waitress came with our meals and pulled me back to reality again.

"Somehow it was and still is a fairy-tail and you're the prince charming." Stella said after we finished our meal. I just nodded in agreement.

We sat there for a while before we decided to leave. By now it was about 9:30 pm. On our way home we were chatting about several things and also about the case again.

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**And don't forget to let me know what you think about this chapter/story :)**

**_Note to AiP: I think you'll like the next chapter ;) and I think I may have to thank you for the nice M-rated Smacked stories you've written and I've read. They gave me at least the intention to try something new :) So... wait and see :)_**

_**blackrose538®**_


	15. Having some fun

**Promised chapter 15 is coming now! :) It's a bit shorter than you might expect but those of you who know my other stories will notice a small change of the topic :) But anyways... this is the first time that I've written such a scene, so don't be too disappointed. **

**I hope you like it :)**

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15. Having some fun 

It was only ten minutes later that we arrived at our apartment. I opened the door and let Stella stepping into the dark and small corridor, first. She switched on the light and I closed the door behind us and locked it. We put our coats on the wardrobe and changed to our slippers before we went into the living room.

"Do you want some late coffee, Stell?" I asked her while I was watching her settling down on the coach and turning towards me.

"No thank you. I'm nearly perfectly happy." She stated and smiled. I could see that she was tired.

"Only nearly?" I asked playfully.

"Yeah, one piece is missing to be perfectly happy."

I went over to her and sat down next her. I put my arm around her and pulled her close so that she was leaning against me and she rested her head on my shoulder. I set a kiss on her hair and leaned my head against her, still having my arms around her. We sat there for a while just enjoying sitting there like this, cuddling and being all alone and lost in our thoughts. After a while I lifted my head which made her looking up at me with a slight frown.

"You look pretty tired, sweetie… I think I should go to bed and get some sleep." I said quietly. She looked at me and nodded. After I got up I offered her my hand to help her back to her feet and she took it. As she stood up she was about to loose her balance so I reached out, put my arms around her and pulled her close to me, so that she couldn't fall. She glanced at me a bit shy.

"Thanks…" she mumbled.

"You're welcome. By the way… I couldn't let you fall." I said my arms still wrapped around her. And she just wrapped her arm around my neck and kissed me.

"So… I think I should go and brush my teeth before I'm going to the bedroom and change into my pyjamas." She said after we got separated again. "Because… if I see a bed right now I would just sit down on it and fall asleep."

"I don't doubt that, Stell." I said and smiled. Then I took her hand and led her to the corridor and stopped in front of our bathroom door. I turned to her and gently kissed her cheek.

"Let's go and do what it's needed. I'll go and change my clothes first, then." I said and she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. I stepped into our bedroom and changed into some pyjama pants I used to sleep in and was just about to leave the bedroom to go to the bathroom when Stella entered the room.

"Hey, I'll be right back." I said.

"I guess I'll be sleeping when you come back." She said with a tired smile. And I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

As I entered the bedroom again I first stopped right behind the door and smiled to myself. Stella lay on top of the covers only dressed in her lingerie, her eyes closed. I stood there several seconds and just watched her breathing. After a few seconds, that felt like it were at least 5 minutes, I walked over to her. Her feet were still on the ground. It looked like she sat down on the bed and then fell asleep right after toughing the bed. I stood now right in front of her, her feet between mine. I knew she wasn't sleeping anymore, but she still acted like she would so I knelt down onto the bed, so that I was on top of her. She now put her hands on my chest and looked at me with a smile that I haven't seen in a while. It was kind of tempting.

"I knew you would do that." She teased.

"I couldn't help myself." I said in truth. "Can you blame me?"

"Not really, no." she said softly and moving her hands from my chest to my shoulders, pulling me close to her and kissed me. It was a mixture of love, passion and hunger for more. While I was trying to hold my weight with my arms I put my forearms between the covers and her back while she moved her hands back to my chest. Still kissing me she gently pushed me away so that I rolled onto my back and she was now on top of me.

"Thought you were tired?" I asked surprised and kind of out of breath.

"Never too tired to have some fun with my husband." She said with a playful smile.

"Really? And you're having fun on top of your helpless husband?"

"I don't think you're helpless, and I also think that you're actually enjoying it. And yes, I have fun. What about you?"

"Couldn't feel better."

"Ah, you're lying, mister. I can see it in your eyes that something's still missing."

"I guess I have the same look in my eyes as you right now… the wanting-more-than-kissing look. Am I right?"

"I guess you are. So… you wanna have some fun?" she asked and again she had that tempting smile.

"Absolute." I said, my hands on her back, opening her bra and pushing her back to where she lay before and getting on top of her again, and kissed her with growing passion. And this night we had _our_ fun before falling asleep peacefully.

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**So... I hope this chapter was okay for you guys :) Please let me know what you think :)**

**and... this might be the last chapter for a while, because actually I'm stuck in a quite busy week again and I sadly haven't that much time to write. I hope you're not that sad as I am... I hope it will not take that long to publish chapter 16 :) **

_**blackrose538®**_


	16. Missing

**So... since I'm sick now and I spent my past two days at home I found some time to finish that chapter. It's a bit longer than I expected, but at least I know most of you like to read those very much ;) **

**So I hope you like this one, too, and let me know what you think, okay?**

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16. Missing

The next morning I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock telling me that it was time to get up. I slowly opened my eyes and found myself all alone in the bed no light switched on, no Stella next to me. Only me and this nerving alarm clock which I was about to silence. I switched on the light and really I was all alone. I got out of bed and dressed myself into my pyjama pants and walked still sleepy to the door.

"Stella, honey?" I called for my wife before I noticed a light coming from the living room. I guessed she would be in the kitchen so I walked through the living room and into the kitchen. I found her sitting on a chair at the small table. Her back was turned to me.

"Stell? Everything's okay?" I asked carefully, not wanting to scare her. But anyways she was a bit shocked by hearing my voice that sudden. Obviously she had been lost in her thoughts before.

"Hey… did I wake you? I'm sorry… I…" she started but I interrupted her.

"Stell, honey, calm down. You didn't wake me, but the alarm clock did. You okay? You look a bit pale, today." I asked her concerned.

"I… uh- yes, I'm fine. Just feeling a bit…nauseous. Nothing to worry about, Mac." She said, stood up and came over to me. I was still standing in the doorframe. When she finally reaches me I just wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed the tip of her nose making her smile with that. She leaned in a bit and kissed me. She was only dressed in her satin bathrobe I gave her last year as her birthday present. It felt good to feel the quite cold satin on my bare chest while holding my wife in my arms.

"I guess I should get ready for work." I stated after we stood like that for a few seconds.

"I guess you should. Will you drop me at the Eastside Gynecology, before you go to work?" she asked me.

"You have an early appointment?"

"Yeah. I'm the first patient today. I wanted to go there before I go to work."

"Yeah, I remember that. So I just drop you there and go to the lab and…" I started and she finished my sentence.

"And I'll get a cab to work when I'm finished there."

"Good." I said and headed to the bathroom to shave and get dressed for work. When I went back into the kitchen I found Stella already dressed waiting with some fast breakfast and a cup of coffee for both of us.

"You know that you're too good to me?" I asked her gently.

"Trust me, Mac, if anyone deserves that it's you." She said honestly and I just smiled at her. We finished our breakfast and then we left the apartment. I stopped in front of the Eastside Gynecology so that Stella could get to her appointment.

"I'll call you when I'm on my way to the lab." She said and smiled.

"Right. You really want to take a cab?" I asked her.

"Yeah. That's the easiest way of getting to work. I don't want to disturb you."

"You never disturb me, hon." I said.

"I know. I gotta go now. Love you." She said and got out of the car and then disappeared in the building. I continued my way, but I decided to go to the courthouse to get the warrant for a DNA sample from John Milton before I went to the lab. It took nearly half an hour before I finally got the warrant and could go to the lab to see if anybody found out something new, but there was nothing new about this case. But Stella had instead of calling me sent me a message that she's on her way to the lab. But that was 20 minutes before I arrived at the lab and so I figured that she would already be there. But when I got to my office I saw that her office was still empty and so I went through the lab in search of my wife to tell her the good news and to take her back to the Gynecology to get the DNA sample and the prints from that John Milton.

I went through all the labs we had but I couldn't find her anywhere. The last step of my trip through the lab was the place where Adam worked. He was busily working on something as I stepped into the room.

"Hey boss." He greeted as he saw me.

"Hey Adam, have you seen Stella?" I asked him.

"No I haven't. Sorry."

"Thanks. Tell her I'm looking for her when you see her, okay?"

"Will do that, boss." He said and got back to his work while I left the room and tried the others.

I finally got back to her office and found Lindsay working on the computer. She shared the office with Stella for many years now. I knocked softly on the glass door before I stepped into the office.

"Morning Mac." Lindsay greeted me with a friendly smile.

"Morning Linds. Have you seen my wife?" I asked her.

"Sorry, Mac. I haven't seen her."

"Tell her I'm looking for her when you see her." I said and was about to leave.

"Mac." Lindsay said and made me stop.

"Yes?" I said as I turned around again.

"Didn't she come with you this morning?"

"No. She had an appointment so I just dropped her off at the Eastside Gynecology. She said she'll take a cab and just half an hour ago she said she's on her way." I said in truth.

"So she should have been here 20 minutes ago." Lindsay mentioned.

"Actually, yes. And I really need to get a DNA sample and actually she wanted to come with me."

"Have you tried her cell?"

"Yep. At least five times. It rings but she doesn't pick up. I have a very bad feeling right now, Linds."

"Me, too. I hope she's okay."

"Yeah. But I have to go to Eastside Gynecology anyways. I'll see what I can find out." I said and wanted to leave but again she made me stop right in the door.

"I come with you." She said and her voice told me that this wasn't a suggestion. It was a fact.

"You don't have to Linds." I tried.

"Mac, this wasn't a suggestion. I don't let you go alone. You always tell us we're not allowed to go anywhere all alone. We should at least take Flack with us. Just in case something happens." She argued and I just nodded and let her go with me. At least I understood that she wouldn't let me go alone. Stella wasn't only my wife but she was everyone's friend here.

So we went to the Eastside Gynecology and went straight to the practise of Dr. Simmons.

"Hello Mr. Taylor. What can I do for you?" The woman behind the reception desk asked me. I recognized her as the woman who Stella had called Lil.

"Hey… uhm… actually I'm looking for my wife and for Mr. Milton." I said.

"Uhm… Stella left about an hour ago." Lil said.

"And Mr. Milton? Dr. Simmons said he would be working today."

"Yes he was here this morning. He got the files of the patients who have an appointment today."

"And… is he still here?" Lindsay asked firmly but friendly.

"I don't think so… I haven't seen him till then. But… I'll go and get Dr. Simmons. I guess she can tell you more about that." Lil said and got up to go and get Dr. Simmons. A few minutes later she came back.

"Will you follow me please? Dr. Simmons will meet you in her office." Lil said and led us to the small office where Stella and I had talked to her yesterday. And a few minutes later Dr. Simmons was there, too.

"Hello Mr. Taylor." She said and offered her hand. I shock it.

"This is Detective Monroe." I said.

"So… what can I do for you?"

"Dr. Simmons…" I started but she interrupted me.

"Tracy."

"Okay, Tracy… Your assistant said Stella left an hour ago…" I said.

"That's correct, yes. Why do you ask me about Stella?"

"As you can see, she's not here. She sent me a message that she was on her way to work but she never got there. That's why I'm asking you to check the answer of your assistant." I explained.

"You think something happened to her?"

"Where is your assistant, Mr. Milton?"

"He left this morning, after he picked out the files of the patients for today… he said he's feeling bad and he wanted to home. Why?"

"We talked to you yesterday, Tracy and I still think Mr. Milton has something to hide."

"You think he's the killer and rapist? Oh my god… you… you think… he got Stella?" Tracy asked in shock.

"That's what we guess." Lindsay said.

"Oh my god… as I said John wanted to go home." Tracy said still shocked. I can't explain what I felt that moment. The only thing on my mind was my Stella probably together with John Milton, a guy who obviously raped and killed two pregnant women and who seemed to be about to do the same thing with Stella. Lindsay and I left the building and got back to the car.

"You think he was stupid enough to get her to his apartment?" Lindsay asked me and brought me back to reality.

"We'll see. Why Stella? He's not his target group…" I said once again nearly lost in my own thoughts. Lindsay said nothing. She didn't even look at me. Did she know something I didn't?


	17. Break through

**So here we go! Chapter 17's ready and I have already the last 3 chapter ready and waiting on my computer. But you can vote for an extra smexy chapter if you want to. I'll count the votes after chapter 19 was published and I'll let you know whether I'll write that chapter or not. So: vote! No voting, no chapter.**

**But anyways I hope you like this little chapter :) It's not that long, but I promise at least one of the next coming chapter will be much longer.**

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17 Break through 

Memories of the past few weeks at home with my wife kept running through my mind while I was pulling the car through the traffic. Had I been blind? Had Stella changed? Why hadn't Lindsay said anything after I said Stella's not his target group? There were so many questions but I had no answers for them.

All I knew at this moment was that this was a quite bad way to celebrate my birthday. Hopefully we would find Stella before he killed her. Lindsay had called Don, so that he would come to Milton's apartment, too.

When we arrived there he was already waiting for us. He had 2 other officer at his side, which he figured we might need to get that Milton person behind bars where he seemed to belong.

We went into the building and to the floor where Milton was living. We stood in front of his door, guns ready in case we needed them. I knocked at his door.

"NYPD! John Milton, open this door!" I shouted. A few seconds later he opened the door.

"What the hell…" he started but as soon as he recognized me he silenced.

"Where is she?" I asked him angrily.

"Where is who?" Milton asked innocently.

"You know who I'm talkin' about."

"No, sorry, I don't."

"Mac… maybe he…" Flack started, but as he realised the look in John Milton's eyes he didn't finish his sentence.

"Mr. Milton, do you mind having us looking around in your apartment?" he asked him instead.

"Don't you need a warrant for that?"

_Damn it_ I thought. If he didn't want us looking around in his apartment we could do nothing so far. It wasn't confirmed that he killed these two women, yet and so we had no reason to search his place. But we had the warrant to a DNA sample and we could take him with us.

"Turn around." I said.

"Why?"

"We take you with us. You're under arrest concerning the suspicion of kidnapping." I said.

"You can't do this!?" he said.

"We can." Flack commented. And with that we brought John Milton down to the police car where the two officer took care of him till we reach the precinct. On the way back to the NYPD building I called Adam to fix passion of Stella's cell phone.

________

"One last time, Milton, where is she?" Flack asked now being as angry with Milton as I was. We had taken the DNA sample and Lindsay brought it to DNA to compare his DNA to the DNA we had found on the crime scene, which would turn out to be a match, I guessed.

"And one last time, I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I have nothing to do with any murders or kidnappings." Milton replied as calmly as he was the whole time.

I was just about to say something when my cell phone rang. It was Lindsay.

"Lindsay, what did you find out?" I asked her.

"_I compared the DNA of Milton with the DNA from the crime scene… it's a perfect match." _Lindsay said. "_He is definitely our killer." _

"Thanks, Lindsay." I said.

"That was Lindsay." I told Don and looked at Milton. "His DNA is a perfect match to the DNA we found on our vics."

"Doesn't look very good for you, John. Come on, where is she?" Flack asked again, but Milton didn't say a word.

"You don't want to tell us, fine, we'll find her. Tell us, why did you kill these two women?" Flack tried again.

"They didn't deserve what they were about to have." Milton said bitterly.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"They were about to have children, but neither of them deserved it."

"And what makes you think like that?"

"They were pregnant and still they were working. They do not know which dangers there are for pregnant women."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Did you ever lost a pregnant wife?" he asked seriously. I guessed what he wanted to say.

"No, I'm not married." Flack said. "And Detective Taylor won't loose his wife. We'll find her."

"None of you knows how it feels like to loose your pregnant wife. Two years ago I lost my wife. She was a school teacher. She was working, but I told her she should better stay at home and rest. She didn't listen. She went to work and they made a trip to the zoo with her class. They went by train but there was an accident. My wife was killed while she was working." Milton said and then he began to cry.

Flack looked at me not sure if he should believe this story or if he should not. I've heard of that accident and she was one of 10 persons who died.

"Tell me, John, where is my wife?"


	18. Last Minute

**So here it is: chapter 18 :) I have only 2 chapter left to come and I've got only 2 yes votes for the extra chapter... that's very little I think... But I also think I'll write that extra chapter anyways. **

**I want to say thank you to all of you who kept reading this story and I want to thank those ones who added this story to the favorite list and thank you to those who added me to the authors alerts and to favorite authors. I'm really honored :) I hope you all keep reading this story and of course the other stories, too. **

**I am already working on a sequel to that story. Got a nice idea how to continue this one :)**

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18 Last Minute

Finally Milton had broken his silence and had told us where he held Stella captive. It was not the best place to keep a woman but anyways it was a better place than a trunk. Milton told us that he had a small garage near Central Park and that he brought the women to this place before he had killed them.

Now we were on the way to that garage. As we reached the place I thought that he made a joke. It was a place where they built a few row of garages and one of it was his. They all had numbers on their doors and Milton said his one was number 102. We drove through the rows of garages and finally we found it.

Don, Danny, Lindsay, Sheldon, 2 officer and I stood now in front of that garage. I handed one of the officers the keys from Milton. He unlocked the door and opened it.

In the middle of the garage there was stood a big bed and on that bed he had cuffed Stella. She was sitting on it, her free arm tightly wrapped around her knees and she had her head on them. As we went into the garage she looked around.

"Stella!" I called her name and she looked at me quite eased.

"Mac…" she said quietly and I went over to her to free her from the bed. Right after she was free she only wrapped her arms around me and held me tight. I only did the same.

"You okay? Did he hurt you? Did he do anything to you?" I asked her concerned.

"No… he didn't… I didn't let him." She said and a tear rolled down her cheek. Somehow I just pulled her back into my arms. I couldn't see her cry.

"Hey… it's okay. You're safe now."

"I know. It's just… they're happy tears actually." She stated and pulled back again.

I looked around a bit. If Milton really used this garage as the place to kill these two women he cleaned it very well. There was nothing that expressed that two women were killed here and I was quite happy about it.

"Mac?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Can we go out of here, please?" she asked.

"Of course. You ready?" I asked her as I stood up. I offered her my hands and she took them and stood up, too. She let go of my right hand, but didn't let go of my left and so we went out hand in hand. All the others were already waiting there for us. And an ambulance was waiting there, too. When Stella saw it she stood and turned around to face me.

"Do I really have to go there?" She asked.

"Actually I think it would be better. They'll just check you to make sure that you're okay." I said. I knew that Stella didn't want to go there, but I would insist on that.

"No discussion about that I guess…" she stated with a sad tone.

"I'll be with you if that'll worth it."

"Very much."

So she went to the ambulance to get the procedure done and I was at her site. After the paramedics had done their work Stella was released to go home and so we went to the car to head home. At least I would take her home and then I wanted to come back to finish this case. As we reached the car Danny and Flack were waiting for us.

"Hey Mac. We want to got to that bar near the NYPD and have a drink after work. Thought you two might want to join us tonight and celebrate your birthday a bit?" Don asked. I turned to look a Stella and she just nodded.

"We'll be there." She said.

"Great. So… 7 pm?"

"Yep. I'll be there anyways." I said.

"Nah- You'll take your wife home and then you'll stay home with her." Danny said.

"Danny… I have a job to do and still… I'm the boss."

"I think Danny's right, Mac. We can handle this without you, today. Take the rest of the day off and spend some time with Stella. She needs you at home right now." Don agreed with Danny. Thinking about what they both said I couldn't say anything else than just that they were right.

"Well… then see you tonight." I said.

"See ya." Danny and Don said and then they were leaving to finish processing the garage and closing the case. Well, at least get that work done they could do and then put the file on my desk so that I can go through it again and sign it. Stella and I got into the car and I drove us home.

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**And as always I hope you like this chapter, too. And I hope you'll let me know what you think. :) **


	19. Happy Birthday

**I am back with a new chapter :) I'm glad that I found some time to post it. I hope you'll like this one :)**

**Well, actually there is not much else to say, but anyways, as there are so little votings for the extra chapter I should decide not to write it, but since I'm enjoying this story so much I might write it anyways. So One last chance for all of you who haven't voted yet to make sure that I'll really write it and don't change my mind last minute. ;)**

**Well and as I promised two chapter ago this one is a bit longer ;)**

**Oh, and I want to say thank you again for all who added this story to their favorites, who added me to their favorites and who subscribe to me or the story. And of course I want to thank everybody who reviews. **

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19 Happy Birthday

When we arrived at home I was quite eased that everything turned out as good as it had.

Stella and I climbed up the stairs together and I unlocked the door to our apartment and let her go inside first. She put down the purse on the small commode that stood in our small corridor and then put her jacket in the wardrobe. I did the same thing with my jacket, too.

"Are you hungry?" I asked her actually just to say something and quit the silence.

"Not really, but I would be happy about a cup of coffee or tea." She answered and she sounded a bit tired.

"Um… tea?"

"The one with raspberry and vanilla would be nice."

"Whatever you want." I said and went to the kitchen.

"I'm taking a shower and change my clothes." She called after me.

I busied myself with making tea and cleaning the dishes that were left from breakfast. While doing that I decided to have a cup of tea, too. Just a few minutes after the tea was ready Stella stepped into the kitchen. I stood in front of the sink so my back was turned to the door, but still I heard and felt that she entered the room. She stepped behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist and put her head on my shoulder.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey yourself. Smells good…" she said.

"Yeah, thanks."

"I mean the tea."

"I know." I said and turned around to face her and wrapping my arm around her, too. She smiled, but still she looked tired.

"You look tired, honey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a bit… well, tired. Come on, let's get the tea and go to a nice place."

"Bed?" I said and smiled.

"Mac Taylor, what the hell are you thinking about right now?" she asked me teasingly.

"About a nice place. But we can go into the living room, too, if you want."

She shook her head and then she took her cup of tea and went into the living room. I took my cub and followed her. As I reached her she just settled down on the couch, pulling her knees close to her body and placing the cup of tea on her knees. I just watched her for a few seconds before I decided to sit down on the arm chair next to the couch. Stella looked up.

"Don't like me anymore?" she teased.

"I do like you, but I did not want to disturb you." I answered in truth.

"Oh come on, you're not disturbing me by sitting next to me. I want you to come and sit here, right next to me." She said and so I got up and sat down next to her. She placed her cup on the coffee table and put her feet down to the floor so that she was sitting in a normal position.

"Better." She said smiling.

"I can't say no when it comes to you, you know that."

"I know. But I know you sometimes can say no, depends on what I want you to do."

"Sure. It always depends on. But mostly I just can't say no."

"Was quite a bad day for your birthday, wasn't it?"

"I'm kind of used to that. But anyhow we solved that case and I have you back. That's all that matters right now. But you're right it's not the best way to celebrate a birthday." I said quietly.

"Maybe I can worth it? Have a nice present for you. Actually I have two."

"You can always worth my day… what is it?" I asked now getting curious. It always felt strange to me to be that curious but otherwise it's my job to be curious, to ask questions. But getting presents was always a bit exciting. Stella stood up and disappeared into the bedroom. A minute later she returned with a bag in her hand. She sat back down and handed me the bag. I looked at her.

"Come on, Mac, open it." She said and so I took a look into the bag and pulled out a little box that was wrapped in a blue and green wrapping paper. I carefully removed the paper and had now a box with a little teddy in it in my hands. The bear was grey and had a blue nose. In its left hand it held a little green balloon, made of fabric, too, with a picture of another teddy with a present in its hands. On the balloon were written the words "Happy Birthday". On the right foot of the bear there were the words "Me to you".

But the teddy had another gift under his right arm and so I pulled it out of the box. I took the smaller gift from the bear and set it down on my lap. I felt that Stella was watching me very carefully, but it didn't bother me. I removed the wrapping paper as carefully as I had removed it from the box with the teddy and inside was another box with something written on the bottom of the top. "A special gift." I opened the small boy and was quite surprised about what was inside. There was a ball pen inside. It was silver and had a small golden ring. On the clip of the pen there was my name.

"Wow…" I whispered. I turned to face my wife who was smiling at me happily.

"Happy birthday sweetheart." She said.

"Thank you. I love it and I love you."

"I love you, too." She said and kissed me.

"This little bear here is cute, just like you." I said truthfully.

"Wanna give it a name?"

"I though you would have done that already…"

"Yeah, Teddy Mac."

"Well, then he's Teddy Mac. As long as he doesn't behave like me."

"I'm sure he doesn't. You want to know my second present?"

"I love to."

"Well, it's not really a present… it's more something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Well, we'll… become parents." She said seriously.

"Really?" I asked just to make sure that I head it correctly. Stella nodded and then smiled. I just smiled back.

"You know, I guessed that and… I think it's great." I put my presents on the table and pulled her into my arms and kissed her. Those news and the really lovely presents were really Worthing my day.

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**So, don't forget: REVIEW!!!! I'm curious and I want to know what YOU think. :) So please let me know [beg] **

**and by the way... I would be very pleased if you would check on my other stories as well. Especially**** Pasta, Soccer, Mens Talk and When A Man Loves A Woman... and of course all the other stories I've written, if you haven't read them yet. :)**

_**blackrose538®**_


	20. Celebration!

**So here I am with my last chapter to this story... Well, actually I have one more chapter for you since I decided to write that little extra chapter ;)**

**I hope you like this chapter!!! And don't forget to let me know what you're thinking! [beg]**

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20 Celebration!

It was nearly 6:30 pm when I stepped into our bedroom after I softly knocked at the door, just to make sure that I wouldn't shock my wife. I guessed she was desperately looking for something nice to wear, but anyhow, we were appointed at 7 pm and so we would have to leave soon.

"You ready, princess?" I asked her, using a nickname for her I haven't used for quite a long time. She turned around and smiled.

"Princess? Quite a long time ago, hu? But, yes, I'm ready, in a minute. Have to fix my hair. It's driving me crazy tonight." She said.

"Time to change that again. I mean you still are my princess." I assured her.

"Ah… maybe you'll have a second princess, soon." She commented and left the bedroom after placing a quick kiss on my cheek. I left the bedroom, too and went to the small corridor to wait for my wife.

While I was waiting for her several thoughts and imaginations came into my mind. Images of that little baby Taylor we would have around us, soon and images of my wife with little baby Taylor in her arms and just images of us with the new family member that wasn't even there. Somehow I was excited about what might come during the next few months, but guessed Stella was also excited about that.

"Mac? You okay?" I heard her calling me, forcing my mind back to reality.

"Yeah… I was lost in thought."

"Excited about the next few months?"

"Somehow… and you?"

"A little bit of that, but I'm also a bit afraid of that. I guess we should leave now, or we'll be late."

"Want to tell everybody about that?"

"What? Little baby Taylor that is coming? Do you want to tell them, yet?"

"They're our friends and sooner or later they'll know anyways, so why don't tell them now?" I said with a smile.

"If you don't mind."

"And you?"

"I don't. I told you and it's okay with you, so I don't mind telling them."

"Ready to go?" I asked her. She nodded with a smile, grabbed her jacket and her purse and then we left the apartment to celebrate my birthday with our friends.

________

As we arrived at the bar near the NYPD building they all were already waiting for us. Danny, Lindsay, Sheldon, Sid and Don and Jess were sitting at a big table and when they saw us they all together started to sing the happy birthday song. Stella began to sing along with them. As they finished and I thanked them smiling happily I saw a little girl come running right toward me.

"Uncle Mac!" the girl exclaimed.

"Hey Lucy." I greeted the little person, lifting her into my arms.

"Happy Birthday." She said and gave me a small gift she was carrying.

"Thank you sweetie. What is it?"

"I don't tell you. It's for you."

I sat down at the table and placed Lucy on my lap and then I carefully removed the wrapping paper. Inside there was a something that looked like a copybook from Lucy's preschool, but as I opened it, it turned out to be a self made photo album. On the first page there was a photo of me standing on our balcony, carrying Lucy in my arms. Below the picture there was a small text which seemed to be written by Lucy.

"Me and you when I was a year old."

I remembered that day. It had been a Saturday. Lindsay and Danny wanted to go shopping and we took care of that little girl. I knew that Stella had taken that picture. On the next page there was a picture painted by Lucy. The little photo album contained photos of Lucy, me and Stella on Christmas, Lucy at her 3rd birthday and several pictures Lucy created by herself. Below or above every picture there was small text. Sometimes written by Lucy and sometimes written by Danny or Lindsay.

"That's beautiful. Did you make it?" I asked Lucy who was now smiling happily.

"I picked the photos. Mommy helped me gluing them and writing the texts." Lucy explained proudly.

"I love it."

"I'm glad."

Danny and Lindsay had also a gift. They had bought a bottle of my favourite wine which I sometimes had a glass of with Stella. Sheldon had decided to give me a book. It was an encyclopedia of racing cars. Sid gave me 2 tickets for the opera and Don and Jess had created an invitation for me and Stella for dinner at their place.

"Thank you guys. You're great." I said.

"You're a great boss." Danny said and smiled.

"And a great friend." Don added.

"And my great uncle." Lucy, who was still sitting on my lap, whispered in my ear.

"Thanks."

The rest of the night we spent talking, laughing and of course drinking some beer or whatever. Of course Stella didn't drink alcohol and that made all of them curious. I guessed that Lindsay and Jess would already know about Stella being pregnant, but obviously only Lindsay knew about, because Jess was the one who asked that one question.

"Hey, Stell, want to share a glass of wine?"

"I have to drive home." Stella said with a smile.

"Nah – you're lying. I knew you two came with a cab."

"Well… if you want to know it I can tell you. I don't think that I should drink wine in the circumstances I am in." Obviously Stella wanted them to guess.

"You're pregnant?" Jess blurt out.

"Yep." She agreed

"Congratulations you two." Jess said and since everybody was quiet now, they all knew what Stella and Jess were talking about. And so they all said their congrats to us and were just happy for us. Of course they were discussing about what it might be. A boy or a girl and how it could look like. But there was always fun behind that talking.

We spent several hours at the bar celebrating my birthday and talking about whatever came to our minds.

It was about midnight when Stella and I decided to leave the party and go home. We both were tired now and of course we wanted to have some time for us alone. But anyways, it was one of the best birthdays I ever had. And I was curious and excited about what might come in the future. A future in a threesome with surely a few adventures and challenges to come.

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**Please.... let me know what you're thinking, okay???**


	21. Time for us

**Hey there! I'm very sorry that it took so long to update this story, but I've been very busy the last few weeks and I still am, but I decided to take the time and finish that story, because I figured you've been waiting quite a long time and I don't want to let you down...**

**I hope you understand that I won't have that much time for my stories, because I'm busy with learning for my final exams which I have to pass the next 2 weeks... After that I'll hopefully be back with the sequel to that story, but I can't promise anything!**

**I want to thank all of you again for reading and reviewing and for staying tuned to that story. Thanks to all of you who added that story to their favorites and who added me to their favorite authors list. I'm truely honored! **

**Some special thanks to: **

**_rocksmacked: _**_Thank you for reading and reviewing so faithfully! I'm glad that you like this story and I also hope you'll like the last chapter! Thank you very much! _

_**Stardust585: **You've started reading this story when it had already a few chapter, but you wrote a very critical review with all the things you like about the story and my writing style and it was just so good to read such things from more than just a few people who wrote a review to my story/stories. I'm very glad that you came to read my story and reviewed and also stayed tuned. Thank you very much!!!_

**

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**

And I want to dedicate this chapter to someone nearly every Smacked-fan here knows: _Andorian Ice Princess: _

_I want to thank you for the help you offered me when I first published this story M-rated. I changed a few things in the beginning and took care not to violate the rating T and you've read it faithfully and always left a comment. I'm very glad that you like this story and reviewed to every chapter. There are only a few people who did that with my stories. I also want to thank you for inspiring me ;) Although it maybe wasn't your intention, but reading those Smacked stories you wrote inspired me to try something like that, too. Thank you very much! I hope you'll like this last chapter, too!_

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21 Time for us

The next two weeks after my birthday had been quite busy and also a bit tough. We've been chasing after another serial killer and finally we caught him today. Stella had gone home after we caught and arrested that guy. I wanted to finish the last things on the report for Sinclair and she had been okay with it. It was Friday and I knew that Sinclair would ask for the report on Monday and so I finished it right after the case was closed.

Now I was in the elevator in our apartment building and was waiting to arrive at the 4th floor where we lived. When the door to the elevator opened I stepped out of it and went to the door. Knowing that our personal life had suffered from the last 2 weeks I decided to take the weekend off and to make Sinclair putting Stella of the schedule, too. And He did. I had bought something for her earlier this day, when she wasn't near me. On my way home I had also bought a bouquet of roses for her. Red ones of course. 50 red roses and I knew she knew what that means. I opened the door to our apartment. I heard soft music coming from the living room. The music was quiet and besides the music the apartment was quiet. Carefully I set down the roses on the commode in the corridor and pulled my coat off. Then I picked up the roses again.

"I'm home, Stell!" I said as I entered the living room.

"I know. I heard you…" she said from behind me. I didn't even notice that she was standing behind me when I stood in the doorway of the living room. I turned around with a smile. She smiled back and then she wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed me, before pulling away again. Of course she looked at the roses in my hands and I smiled again.

"I know that our personal life suffered from the last 2 weeks… so… I thought I'd make it up to you." I said and handed her the roses. She took them with a happy smile.

"Sometimes our life is quite busy, hu? Thank you, sweetheart." She said, still smiling and then kissing me again.

"I should get them a vase and some water. I'll be right back." She said and rushed into the kitchen only to come back a few minutes later and setting the roses on the table in our dinette.

"Do you know that you look beautiful in your nightie?" I said with a smile.

"Now that you said it." She teased.

"But I have something else for you." I said and pulled a small blue box out of the pocket of my suit jacket.

"Awww… I love these boxes." She said with a happy smile.

"I know, that's why I bought you one."

I gave her the box and she sat down on the couch with it and I pulled of my suit jacket and laid it over the backrest of the arm chair and sat down next to her. She opened the ribbons of the box and then the box itself. I could see on her face that she loved what I bought her. It were the earrings Stella had been looking at when we where at Tiffany's for asking the employees about Jenny Barns. I had decided to buy them for her when I had seen her looking at them. Now I figured was the right time to do so. She deserved it. She deserved everything.

It were golden drop earrings, with a yellow quartz stone at the end. To me this stone looked more green than yellow but Tiffany's said it's called yellow quartz. I didn't really care about that, because the only thing that was important was that it will look good on Stella.

"How did you know that I liked them?" she asked me with a happy smile.

"I saw it when you looked at them."

"I love them, Mac. Thank you!"

I just couldn't get enough of seeing my beloved wife smiling happily and just being happy. I just smiled at her. She set the box with the earring down on the coffee table and turned to me with a quite strange look in her eyes.

"What?" I wondered.

"That look you had just a second ago… never seen that before." She stated in wonder.

"Sorry… just dreaming happily I guess."

"You don't need to apologize, it suits you very well. Will you tell me what you've been dreaming of?"

"Oh… just about you and me and… things we could do now…" I said in a mysterious tone.

"Aw… think I know what you're dreaming of." She said wrapping her arms around my neck and then kissing me. I wrapped my arms around her waist enjoying the kiss and never want it to end. When we finally pulled away we were quite out of breath.

"You wanna be a bad boy, hu?" she teased.

"You know, it's getting boring from time to time to only be the good one." I answered smiling at her. She knew exactly what I meant.

"So… we should take that to a more… private room, honey."

"Anything for my princess." I said and got up. As I stood in front of her I picked her up into my arms and carried her to our bedroom. Inside I closed the door with a soft kick and set my princess down onto the bed. Stella grabbed the fabric of my shirt and pulled me down onto her.

"Seems as if you wanna be a bad girl, hu?" I teased before she silenced me with kisses as hungry as mine.

"Always like to be the bed girl in bed…" she whispered in my ear while she pulled of my now unbuttoned shirt.

"Honestly, you're not a bad girl then…" I whispered back and she looked at me with a slight frown.

"Why is that?"

"Making love to the one you love isn't a bad thing, is it?"

"Well… then just imagine it would be bad, makes more fun." And with that we went on in our way to our very intimate and love filled union.

And it was passionate, heated, love filled and just fun.

Later that night, I didn't know which time it was, we just lay in bed, her head rested on my bare chest, her arm around my waist and were satisfied and happy, but neither of us could sleep.

"You know what?" she asked me quietly.

"I know a lot of things, hon."

"Life with never gets boring. Even the 'fun' parts of it…"

"It's only because of you… I am a very boring man without you."  
"I know… It's the same with me."

"That's why I'm never gonna leave you alone. And if I'll ever do you can kill me for being a fool."

"I won't kill you, but call you a fool and make you come back. I can't kill the better half of me. I don't wanna be a single parent."

"Think it's going to be a tough time, hu?"

"The next few months till that little new family member is born will be a tough time. But not only for me. I'm quite excited, though."

"I'm going to be a nervous wreck when the time arrived. I just feel it."

"Want would you like more? Boy or girl?" she asked me and now got up to her elbows and looked at me.

"This is a trick question, isn't it? I'll love our baby, whatever gender it'll have. It's more important that it'll be healthy." I stated seriously and she just nodded with a satisfied smile.

"You know what it'll be, right?" I asked my wife curiously.

"I'll know that in two weeks if I want to. You want to know it? Or do you like surprises?"

"Actually, I would like to know it before. You know, I'm curious." I said. To my surprise she wasn't sad about that. I had expected she would like to wait till little baby Taylor's born.  
"It'll be the first-born I want to know it, too. So… you're coming with me then?"

"Of course."

"You're the proud daddy even before our little one's here. Guess it'll be coddled by you, hu?"

"Like you, my much loved princess." I said and kissed the tip of her nose and she smiled at me before she rested her head on my chest again and I hold her in my arms. Laying like that we fell asleep.

_**~ THE END ~**_


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